Our Flooring Project

Whenever we found out that we were going to have our fourth baby, Don and I knew we were going to have to get new flooring in the dining room. It had carpet at the time and our kitchen table was too small for all 5 of us to eat at. So, after we received our tax refund this year we went floor shopping. We found some great wood laminate on sale and bought enough to re-floor our entry way, kitchen and dining room. Here is what those rooms looked like before our week of chaos...

Our kitchen with the lovely linoleum - I hated this floor! It showed everything and never looked clean. One time I sat and scrubbed every inch of it with a magic eraser and it was clean for the first time ever, but I also took the top coat off of it and it never really looked the same again.

Our entry way was fine, it just wasn't our favorite tile.

And our dining room, with the carpet. (Not the best idea if you are going to have 3 kids eating in there!)

The whole process was supposed to take around 3 days max, but they started on Tuesday morning and didn't finish until the following Monday evening. One of the days he was sick and of course, he didn't work over the weekend. As many of you know, I have some OCD issues and the fact that we were practically living in our bedroom and that my house was covered in dirt, debris and dust really took its toll. (They literally jack-hammered the tile out of our entry way!!) Here are some pictures of the mess and what we lived like.

This is where we spent all our time. My bedroom became Lily and Taegan's playroom and living room. Our master bedroom is not big enough for that!!

Before he left on Friday Don asked if he would be doing anything messy on Monday and he said no. He would only be installing the toe-kick and trim and finishing up a few things. So on Sunday morning I spent 4 hours cleaning my kitchen. Everything had to be cleaned - it was bad! Then Monday came and first thing he went to fix the cabinet above our fridge. (After we laid the floors, the fridge was too tall!) That would have been fine except he didn't take the cabinet down like we thought he was going to do, no, he did it right there in the kitchen. Needless to say, my spotless kitchen was now a total disaster again. All of my dishes, plates, cups, everything, were covered in sawdust, and wood shavings - and they were in the cabinets!!! So, on Tuesday I had to re-clean my kitchen, another 4 hours later it was done... again.

When everything was finally complete, we were very happy. I love the look and we are both so thrilled with our purchase! 3 days later, we finally have our house cleaned and put back together. It took a lot of work - that dirt and debris can fly everywhere!! Here are the final pictures!!